U.S. Senator Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) held a telephone conference call with reporters this morning. The topic of Republican presidential candidate Newt Gingrich was raised, and Harkin started swinging (rhetorically). Here’s the AUDIO.
“I was in the House with Newt, as a matter of fact, years ago. I can remember him being a bomb thrower at that time. One of those people always lobbing things around. I thought at that time, in his early career in the House, he was irresponsible at that time. I kind of got to know Newt later on, (he’s an) intriguing individual, but perhaps I’ve never met a more undisciplined person in politics in my life and if you’re going to run for president, you have to have discipline. Believe me, I speak from experience on that one and if you’re going to be president you have to have some discipline in how you approach things and how you assess situations. Newt has never been one to engage mind before opening mouth. He engages mouth before engaging his mind sometimes, most of the time. That doesn’t bode well for him at all. I think there’s some, what I’m picking up around here is there’s a lot of quiet, silent cheering in the Obama Administration and the Obama campaign for Newt to get the nomination. It would be just be heaven-sent if he got the nomination.”
“…Someone once described the prospect of Newt getting the nomination, saying that, ‘Imagine that you’re standing in front of a door and behind that door all these suitcases are piled and you open the door and all the suitcases come tumbling out.’ Of course, I didn’t know what they were talking about. He said, ‘Baggage, he has a lot of baggage and once he gets up there all that baggage comes tumbling out.'”
Harkin was asked to share his thoughts on Romney. Romney seems to be “plodding along” with a “very cautious” game plan, according to Harkin.
About O.Kay Henderson
Kay is a founding member of the Radio Iowa network newsroom. In 1994, she became the network’s news director. She’s a featured reporter and commentator on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press,” and the 2002 recipient of the Shelley Award.
[…] a Thurs. morning conference call, Iowa Dem Sen. tells reporters "there’s a lot of quiet, silent cheering in the Obama Administration and the […]